Lsquared Math News and Updates http://www.lsquaredmath.us/index.xml

When I post a new learning object, make a major change to a learning object, or have other news related to Lsquared Math, I can make an entry in this rss feed to let you know about it. Subscribe to this feed and you can avoid being surprised by a change in a program that you use in front of your students. By subscribing or checking here frequently, you can stay current and play with new features before you use them in the classroom.

 en-us Mon 11 Jul 2011 14:05:00 GMT Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:05:00 GMT Laura's Pyramid college algebra counting http://lsquaredmath.us/laurasPyramid/ A program that illustrates the coefficient's of the expansion of a trinomial is located in Programs/Algebra. This program is called: Laura's Pyramid and it is related to Pascal's Triangle and the Binomial Theorem. The coefficients can also be used in counting and probability problems. Sat, 28 May 2011 21:29:00 GMT Interactive Grade Sheet tools http://laurashears.info/math122/courseinfo/m122GradeSheets.htm I had a need to update my interactive grade sheet that my students use to play with different scenerios and predict their course grades. After getting frustrated trying to find the correct computer with the correct version of Excel that would save a grade sheet in this format, I decided to make my own in Flash. Newer versions of Excel no longer have the save as an interactive web page option. The one I came up with is customized to match the way I grade my students, but it should be easy to adjust this program to make versions for my other classes that use a different grading scheme. Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:15:00 GMT Pi Estimate calculus http://laurashears.info/math152/derivingPI/ This page describes how in my early college days, I derived the number pi. I came up with different formulas using techniques related to a basic Reimann sum, the trapezoid rule, and Simpson's rule. Fri, 1 Oct 2010 09:16:00 GMT Math Worksheets arithmetic http://lsquaredmath.us/mathWorksheets/ I have updated the Math Worksheets, to make it so that the page orientation is set to landscape if you have more columns than rows and portrait otherwise. The user no longer needs to decide this, which makes it easier to get a page with a nice font size for the number of problems selected. There are also some other minor improvements to the directions. Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:35:00 GMT Eccentricity conics college algebra graphing http://lsquaredmath.us/eccentricity The new eccentricity program that was made last month has been updated. Now you can display lines emanating from the focus which can lead to a nice discussion of applications of conics. You can also show the sum or difference constant as you move a point P along the curve of a hyperbola or an ellipse which can lead to a discussion of the definitions involving to focal points. You can also choose to hide or display the standard constants associated with the ellipse and the hyperbola. This program was made with teachers in mind. It is a wonderful tool for use in the discussion of many conics topics. Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:30:00 GMT Eccentricity conics college algebra graphing http://lsquaredmath.us/eccentricity I recently taught the topic of conic sections to my precalculus students. We focused mostly on the definitions that involve distances from the foci and the directrix, but I also wanted to give them an intuitive feel for the concept of eccentricity and show them that even a hyperbola and an ellipse have a directrix. I found two programs that I used to demonstrate this concept, but I really just wanted one simpler program where I could move a focal point and a directrix and students can see the shape of the conic changing as well as the value for the eccentricity. I created that program to use in future semesters and I hope that other teachers enjoy it as well. I would like to add a few more features in the future, but I am satified for now. Enjoy! Tue, 02 Jun 2010 01:00:00 GMT Math Worksheets Update arithmetic http://lsquaredmath.us/mathWorksheets/ My second grade daughter took her first timed division test last week and she got many problems wrong because she didn't recognize the notation. She was used to the division symbol instead of the long division format. I added a long division choice to the math worksheets menu so she and other kids could practice with this format. I had to fix the font size since this involved using an image. Hence you won't find the adjustable font on this page like you will on the other worksheet pages, but a page should easily hold about 50 problems or less. Sun, 23 May 2010 23:35:00 GMT Alien Arithmetic Update arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic/index.php In the introduction to the program, I have added more points for following directions in some parts to encourage students to take the time to go through the introduction and follow the directions before moving on to the various math tasks. At the kindergarten level, I have updated the count the blocks activity so that students can simply click on the numbered squares instead of needing to drag each block to a square. This is a much faster method of manipulating the blocks to count them. I have also made it so that when the student is in the alien base, they get the same number of blocks that they got in base ten. This eliminated the need to ask them to count in both base ten and the alien base in one scene. I worked on fixing check marks to make sure they show up when a task is completed. Also, once you get a check mark for a task, you should be allowed to redo that task for more practice, but not for more points. This is to prevent students from staying on a task that they find easy and scoring lots of points on that one task rather than moving on to new challenges. In the second grade level, I have spent quite a bit of time reworking the represent numbers with blocks portion of the program. Now, students can move on with just 50% of the problems correct, but their score will be proportioned accordingly. Also, if they want to get out of this part of the program entirely, they can click on the main menu button and leave it. Mr. Carlson's of Perry Meridian Middle School requested that I also add a count the blocks question so students can get the idea of how their alien base relates to base ten. I did this and it can help students learn to use the alien blocks manipulatives (which can be printed) to figure out more challenging conversion problems at a later part of the program. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:33:00 GMT Improvements to Graph a Random Trig Function trigonometry graphing http://lsquaredmath.us/trigGraph/index.php Now when you have your students run the Graph a Random Trig Function program, they get credit for figuring out the functions characteristics such as amplitude and phase shift. If they don't figure out the characteristics after many tries, the program puts them in for the student so the student can move on and calculate the scales and graph the function. Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:16:00 GMT Alien Arithmetic Updated arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic/index.php Last weekend, I dressed up as an alien and volunteered at a local Science and Math Fun Day. Many kids learned about doing arithmetic in different base counting systems while having fun building their alien hands and being challenged to figure out how to do math in the new system. I got several ideas for improvements to the program while helping the kids play. I had time to implement some of those ideas on Sunday and I posted the new version of the program yesterday. There will be more improvements in the future, but you can enjoy what I have so far right now. I started this program back in 2005 and it continues to evolve. Enjoy! Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:52:00 GMT Ads Removed general http://www.lsquaredmath.us On January 4th most of the ads on this site were removed. Only the shopping pages and the SCORM information pages still have ads. Ads have been removed from all of the pages that would attract students to make this site more education friendly. My goal is to have parents and teachers comfortable sending their students to this site. Back when I had ads, I always tried to make them useful to someone checking out a math site. In other words, I tried to make it so only math related ads showed up, but since this is not entirely in my control, I decided to just remove the ads so nobody needs to worry about what ads show up. The Amazon store page is just a place where you can purchase math related books and videos, so I don't think anyone would have a problem with me leaving that page up. The SCORM page is targeted to other developers that are making educational software. Since this is usually done by adults, I don't think anyone would have a problem with me leaving ads on that page. Other than that, the site is pretty much ad free, so please enjoy using the software that you find here without worrying about what else you might find. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:40:00 GMT Radian Introduction trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/radianIntro/ You can use this program as a visual aid while you teach the concept of radians. The radius is adjustable and you can toggle on and off arc highlighting and you can toggle through different backgrounds. You can fine tune adjustments to the dot on the circle and the angle with the nudge buttons. Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:00:00 GMT Unit Circle Images trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/unitCircleImages/ Often times when discussing introductory trig concepts with students, you just need a nice image to refer to. This program lets you create the images involving a unit circle that you use most. You can display a circle with little dots at the key points, you can have the dots labeled with coordinates, angles in radians or degrees. You can have just a plain circle to draw on (if you are projecting your image onto a whiteboard), and you have a choice of several backgrounds. Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:30:00 GMT Standard Angle demos trigonometry geometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/standardAngle/ This program demonstrates the standard angle with the initial side along the positive x-axis in both radians and degrees. It also shows negative and positive movement. Wed, 27 Aug 2009 01:40:00 GMT Angles, Arc Length, Radius, and Area demos trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/radians/angleArcLengthRadiusArea.php This program allows you to change the size of a circular wedge. While manipulating it, you can see the display of the angle in radians and degrees, the area of the sector, and the arc length. You can also toggle off any of these displays so your students can practice calculating the values, then toggle them back on to check their answer. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:20:00 GMT Summer Math general http://www.lsquaredmath.us/summerMath/ If you are interested in what this college math teacher does to help her own children with their math skills during the summer, check out my summer math page. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:20:00 GMT SCO Template SCORM http://www.lsquaredmath.us/template/ This is a mock up of the template that I plan to use for my SCOs (SCORM compliant learning objects) in my math classes next fall. Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:05:00 GMT New SCORM Sample SCORM http://www.lsquaredmath.us/scormQuest/sampleSCOs.htm I have had a sample Flash SCO that uses SCORM 1.2 and ActionScript 2.0 for quite awhile. Now I have decided to post more examples. I just posted one that uses SCORM 1.2 and ActionScript 3.0. Fri, 29 May 2009 11:30:00 GMT SCORM Poster Presentation SCORM http://www.lsquaredmath.us/scormQuest/SCORMposter/index.html I got a chance to share what I've learned about SCORM and making it work with Flash learning objects at the Angel Users Conference in Chicago on May 15. Now I have posted a mock up of my poster along with explanations. Click on SCORM, then SCORM Poster to find it. Tue, 19 May 2009 12:00:00 GMT Addition of Ordinates graphing trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/additionOfOrdinates/additionOfOrdinatesPlayground.php The original Addition of Ordinates program had a tendacy to eat the dots when the dots were placed too close to the edge. That has now been fixed. I have also created another version of the program where you get feedback on your dot placement as soon as you position the dot instead of having to wait until you graph the h function. I plan to use both versions in the course that I teach where the immediate feedback version is used for teaching the concept and the other version is used for assessing a student's understanding of the concept. You can find both versions of this program in the Programs>Graphing menu. Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT Fraction Update arithmetic demos http://www.lsquaredmath.us/fractions/ Now,the fraction program, listed below, has draggable rectangles and you can enter positive fractions that are less than or equal to two. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT Fractions demos arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/fractions/ This is a simple fraction drawing program that uses parts of squares to represent fractions. Very useful for a teacher led discussion on the topic of fractions. Great for projecting onto a white board, so that you can then draw on the image as you discuss concepts such as common denominator. You can find this program in Programs>Arithmetic>Fractions Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT Triangle Draw demos trigonometry precalculus triangles http://www.lsquaredmath.us/triangleDraw/ I made this tool so I could have my students do an experiment and tell me the number of solutions to a triangle in various situations. I like to have my students play around with this program just before the topics of Law of Sines and Law of Cosines are introduced. You can find this program in Programs>Triangles>Triangle Draw. Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:00:00 GMT Drawing Given Trig Info demos triangles trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/givenTrigInfo/ Imagine what it would be like to teach mathematics without the use of a chalkboard or whiteboard. Although there are many programs out that simulate those things, I find them a bit cumbersome to work with much of the time. However I often need those kinds of visual things while explaining concepts to my online trig students. I was using Camtasia Studio's (TM) screen recording software to record a lecture on composition of trig functions and inverse trig functions. I needed the ability to draw triangles on an x-y grid very quickly, so I made a simple program to do this. You can expect that in the future I will be adding more features to this program to help teach students how to draw their given information and then use it to solve problems, but for now, it is just a visual tool for teachers who need to make a drawing while discussing concepts. You can find this program by going to Triangles>Drawing Given Trig Info. Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:00:00 GMT Thinking on the Unit Circle demos trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/thinkingOnTheUnitCircle/ I just updated the program formally known as 'Find the Angle'. It now has many more features including a perpendicular line, draggable markers, nudge buttons for the second angle, adjustable denominators for the coefficient of pi. This program is a great tool for teaching a variety of trig concepts related to the unit circle. Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:00:00 GMT Waves and Phase Shift graphing sound http://www.lsquaredmath.us/additivePhaseShiftOfWaves/index.php I was sitting in my Audio Production class, when my teacher, Brock Elesser, began discussing sound waves in and out of phase. It occured to me that my Addition of Ordinates program could be adjusted a bit to show this concept. So that is what I did. You will find it posted in the graphing area. Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:00:00 GMT Find the Angle trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/thinkingOnTheUnitCircle/ I created this program out of a desire to have a tool available that would help me explain how to solve problems where a student is asked to find an angle in a given region only knowing one of the trig values of that angle. However, I think I will find many more uses for this program as a demonstration tool. Look in Programs>The Unit Circle for this latest addition. As always feedback is welcomed. Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:00:00 GMT Alien Arithmetic arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic/index.php I have implemented a new scoring system for the Alien Arithmetic program. I am also in the process of breaking up the program into different levels and keeping track when a student has completed a level. After I finish this breakup, I plan to add a few more tasks to each level and add different rewards for each level. I will also need to continue adding points to the new scoring system for each task. The main reason for the new scoring system is so that when I visit schools and have the kids run the program I can give prizes to the top scorers. I have ordered some Alien Arithmetic socks from The Sock Guy to use as prizes. I also give out either Alien Arithmetic pencils or stickers to each student for participating. 15 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Ascii Codes tools http://www.lsquaredmath.us/asciiCode/ I use this program all of the time when I need to find the ascii code of a character to put in a program. I figured it was time to share it with other developers. It is not fancy, but I find it useful. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Improvements to Plotting Complex Numbers graphing precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/complexNumbers/index.php I worked on this program for many days so I might have missed some of the improvements that I made, but here is at least a partial list. 1. Animations have been improved so that they now include labels that students can use to help with figuring out formulas. 2. Animations now have replay buttons on them, so students and teachers do not have to rerun the whole program to see one animation again. 3. When entering answers for the trig form of a complex number, you are no longer limited on how you enter the answers. All correct answers are now accepted. 4. The flow of the instructional part of the program has been improved and makes more sense, thus making it a more useful tool for both students reviewing on their own or teachers that want to project the program on a white board for class discussion. 5. A scene has been added that discusses what happens when you plot a number in trig form with a negative modulus and students are asked to plot that kind of number. Input text boxes are now right aligned. 6. Conversion problems have been added so students can practice converting between standard and trig form of complex numbers. You will find the Plotting Complex Numbers in: Programs > Graphing Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Angle Target Practice trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/radians/targetPractice.php This it the program that used to be known as Radian Target Practice with all sorts of improvments made to it. Now you can practice both radian and degree measure. You can also make the angles before or without going into the self assessment mode. You can view the value of the angles as you are changing the angle unless you are in the testing mode. You can visually see how many times you have gone around the unit circle because the angle spirals out instead of overlapping itself. More hints have been added to help you figure out the answers. Additionally, you can change the background to show a rectangular grid, a polar grid, a combination grid, or no grid. All of these improvemens, should make the program a better tool for teachers to project in a classroom and use for dicussions. You will find this program in the Unit Circle submenu of the Program menu. Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Polar Rectangular Grid Generator demos graphing http://www.lsquaredmath.us/rectPolarGrid/index.php The Polar Rectangular Grid program was designed to help teachers who need a grid projected onto a white board or smart board for use during a class discussion related to graphing in either polar or rectangular systems. The teacher can control the grid type, and size and whether or not to have an axis showing. There are also some draggable points, that can snap to either a polar or recatangular grid or placed freely. You will find the Rectangular-Polar Grid Generator in the Graphing submenu of the Program Menu. Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT Solving Random Triangles triangles trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/triangles/ I have added a triangle drawing program that I made in Scratch to both the Scratch page and the Triangles pages. Now when you go to solve your random triangle, you can use the Scratch program to draw your triangle. Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT Scratch Page programming recreation triangles http://www.lsquaredmath.us/scratch/index.php I started using Scratch to help my kids learn some basic programming, logic, math, computer art, and general computer skills. After they post there work, I will also put a copy of it on this site. Look in Programs > Fun Stuff. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT Countdown Timer tools http://www.lsquaredmath.us/countdownTimer/ Look in Programs > Other Stuff to find a countdown timer that can be handy when giving kids a time limit on their arithmetic worksheets or for other purposes. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT Six Trig Functions and an Angle Update demos trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sixTrigFunctionsAndAnAngle/ A couple of small improvements have been made to the trig function program that is mentioned below on June 9, 2008. I added the angle to the set of labels. I also added a toggle button that makes the labels invisible to help facilitate class discussion. A teacher may want to have the labels invisible while the class discusses the probable values of each of the line segments and the angle. They can also try to figure out which segment goes with which trig function. Then the labels can be made visible again so everyone can see how close they were to the correct answers. Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT Timed Arithmetic Improvements arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/timedArithmetic/ Now you can see your average for the current set of games that you are playing in the bottom of the Timed Arithmetic frame. You can also see your average for sets of games that you already played in the same setting in the Results window. The formatting of the Results window has also been improved. Another new reward program has been added to the highest level of Timed Arithmetic. The game is called 'Trap the Ball'. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT Father's Day Gift recreation http://www.lsquaredmath.us/kla/index.php Over the last few years I have made some programs for my dad's website for gifts. Recently some of those programs got messed up due to a formatting problem on his website so I made a copy of them here. Click on the 'Running' link above to see these programs. The formatting matches the style of my dad's site and most of the links go back to his site. A Heart Rate Calculator was added for this year's Father's Day gift. Eventually, these programs will probably be moved back to his site, but I will keep a link to them here as well. Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT Finished New Site Design general http://www.lsquaredmath.us/index.php I have now finished the overhaul of the Lsquared Math website. It should display better now on computers that have their monitors set to low resolution. I have completely gotten rid of the Flash based menus which were a bit difficult to update when I added new programs. I have added a new page with links to all of the programs. I have used a lot more JavaScript and CSS to control the layout of pages and make the pages more dynamic. I am sure I will be tweaking the site here and there but the main part of the overhaul is finished for now. Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT Sudoku Solver Update recreation http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sudoku/ This update is out of order, because I simply overlooked it. I made many small improvements to various programs and pages while I was updating the look and functionality of the site. In the Sudoku Solver grid, when you have the digit you want selected in a position, you get a larger version that is easier to see. If you change your mind and click on something that contradicts the number as your choice, the large number will go away. Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT Trig Functions on the Unit Circle, Limits of Sine and Tangent as Theta goes to Zero demos calculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sineTanTheta/ The Sine Theta, Cosine Theta, and Theta program orginally posted last month has been updated and split into two different programs. One program is targeted towards trig students that are learning about the trig functions on the unit circle. The other program is targeted towards calculus students who are learning about the limits of sine and tangent as their angle heads towards zero. Both programs can be found in the Unit Circle area of the Programs menu. Sat, 31 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT New Site Design general http://www.lsquaredmath.us/index.php You may be wondering why I have joined the ranks of so many other websites by 'wasting space' and making a skinny site. There is good reason that sites do this. Even in this day of high resolution monitors, most schools that I have visited still have the monitors set to a very low resolution. Thus when I go to a school and do a demo with a program on my site, I end up having to use the horizontal scroll bar quite a bit. To avoid that problem, I am in the process of updating my site so that nothing on the main pages is more than 800 pixels wide. I will still have links to larger versions of the programs so that if you are using a high resolution setting you can click on the larger version which is definitely better for projectors. For the next few days there may be some pages where the content flows off the page while I continue to update things. I will probably also eventually replace the vertical menus with horizontal ones to save more space. Thu, 22 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT Pythagorean Puzzle geometry algebra http://www.lsquaredmath.us/pythagoreanPuzzle/ My fifth grade daughter came home from school last week and as I was looking over her work, I noticed that they had been doing some Pythagorean Theorem problems. She could do the problems, but didn't understand the theorem, so I create a program that helps students who have not yet had algebra understand the theorem. The program is still under development, but the geometric part is done and makes a great demonstration of the theorem. Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT Timed Arithmetic Update arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/timedArithmetic/ Check out the results button and the hints that are now available in Timed Arithmetic. Sat, 03 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT Sine Theta, Cosine Theta, and Theta trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sixTrigFunctionsAndAnAngle/ This program lets you visually compare the values of sine theta, cosine theta and theta on the unit circle. This program is useful for generating discussions in both calculus and trig classes. In a trig class, all kinds of questions can be asked about when the various trig functions are positive and when they are negative, how they compare in size, etc. In a calculus class, a teacher can use the program to help students see the limit of sine theta over theta even if the students are not yet ready for a formal proof on the topic. This program was originally inspired by the questions students asked while I visited a calculus class at Perry Meridian High School on May 2nd, 2008. You can find this program in the Unit Circle links. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT Combination and Factorial Notation precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/combinationFactorialNotation/ Students often have difficulty algebraically simplifying expressions involving combinations and factorials. This program will test your students skills in that area. Future updates will also include some instructional scenes. You can find the Combination and Factorial program in the Algebra links area. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT Summation Properities precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/summation/ Even after students get the basic idea of summation, they often have troubles combining that idea with things that they already know such as the distributive property, factoring, commutative, and associative properties. Students also need to be able to adjust indices when needed and do other types of thinking that help them manipulate and simplify summations. The Properites of Summation program currently tests your students ability to do many of these manipulations and in future updates some instructional scenes will be added. You can find the Summation Properties program in the Algebra links area. Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT Drawing Tools Program tools http://www.lsquaredmath.us/drawingTool/ If you teach math online, you have probably at one time or another been frustrated with some of your students inability to make a simple small drawing to help them explain a concept on a discussion board or elsewhere in the class. You may have felt that same frustration yourself when you wanted to do something quick and easy and save it in a format that can easily be used on the web. The new Drawing Program may be just what you need. It currently works in Internet Explorer, but not in Firefox. I am working on an updated version with some improved tools and I am hoping to fix the program so it works in most browsers. You can find this program in the 'Other' links area. Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT Improvements and Fixes to the Vector Drawing Board trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/vectorDefn/drawingBoard.php I found a couple of bugs in the Vector Drawing Board program. Under certain conditions, the user would have to click Draw twice to be able to draw a vector. This problem has now been fixed. When using the negate button, sometimes the negative vector failed to get labeled. I believe I have fixed all of the situations that caused this problem, but if you find it happening, please let me know and I will look for the cause so I can fix that also. Also a couple of new features have been added. Now you can change the background and snap your vectors into your desired background. The vectors will snap to the grid of a polar background or a rectangular background or you can turn off grid snapping by choosing a plain background. If you want to add vectors, you should draw all of them with the snapping feature turned on in the rectangular background mode, so that you can line them up properly for adding. Also, you can label your vectors with both upper case and lower case letters. You must use Caps Lock to label upper case letters before you click on Draw. You now get to choose which color you want to use for your vectors. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT Plotting Complex Numbers graphing precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/complexNumbers/index.php Students can see examples of how to plot and read complex numbers in both standard and polar form with this new program. There is a self-assessment included. As with most programs on this site, both examples and the assessment use random problems so students can practice repeatedly with new problems each time. You can find this program in the Graphing menu. Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT Improvements to Unit Circle Symmetries trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/unitCircleSymmetries/ The Unit Circle Symmetries program has undergone many improvements. There is a new layout that makes more sense. The buttons are grouped by their purpose. The results page now includes a scroll bar so you can still see your results even if you have more than 18 entries. There are more directions, every step of the way, so you and your students know what to do next. Finally, when you drag the blue dot past 180 degrees, the displayed angle now matches the direction that you dragged instead of jumping to stay in the range of -180 degrees to 180 degrees. Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT Graph a Random Trigonometry Equation graphing trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/trigGraph/index.php A new program has just been posted. It generates a somewhat random trigonometry equation and lets you graph it. It gives feedback on your scales and then on your graph. Most students would probably find it helpful to draw the graph by hand and then transfer their results onto the program. I'm very excited about this program because it is the first time that I have been able to have a program give instant feedback to my students graphs. Picking good scales seems to be a skill that takes awhile for students to get and this program gives a lot of feedback in that area. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT Alien Arithmetic Update arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic/index.php I am still in the middle of making many improvements to the Alien Arithmetic program, but I posted the updates that I have so far. I have now added a scene where students can represent alien numbers with counting blocks that are made for that base. Eventually, I plan to add base n counting blocks to scenes where students need to do addition and subtraction, so the blocks can be used as a visual aid for figuring out the answers, but in the meantime, you can print your own blocks on cardstock paper to aid in figuring things out. See update note below for further information. Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT Arithmetic Counting Blocks arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic/countingBlocks.php Have you seen those counting blocks that they use in schools to help children learn about place value and face value as well as borrowing and carrying? Now you can print up your own easy to carry with you set on flat paper. I recommend printing on cardstock paper so you will have a stiff set that is easier for kids to manipulate. There is a twist in this set of blocks. You decide what base you want to use from base 2 to base 16. Of course with young children, you will probably want to stick with base 10, but for older kids who are playing Alien Arithmetic and getting a deeper understanding of our counting system, you can print in other bases. You can find a link to print these blocks on the Alien Arithmetic page. Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT Vector Drawing Board precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/vectorDefn/drawingBoard.php The vector drawing board labels have been updated with the same improvements made to the Linear Combination labels. See below. Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT Vector: Linear Combination precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/vectorDefn/linearCombination.php It is now easier to drag the vectors around the board even if you grab a vector by its label. Before the label would move and then the vector would jump to a new position. Now the movement is smooth and easy to control. Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT Factoring http://www.lsquaredmath.us/factors/ Another revision to the factoring number program was needed after it was discovered that the superscript font was not embedded propertly. Now the exponents should display properly on any computer. Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT Factoring arithmetic tools http://www.lsquaredmath.us/factors/ The factoring program has been updated. Now the exponents appear as superscripts whereas before there was just a carrot symbol ('^') indicating exponent. Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:00:00 GMT Alien Arithmetic Number Charts arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic/numberChart.php Now you can print number charts to use for reference while working through the Alien Arithmetic program. Be sure and use the print button included in the program rather than your web browser's print feature. Also, the charts were designed to print in landscape mode. You will find a link to these number charts on the Alien Arithmetic page (see below). Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:00:00 GMT Alien Arithmetic arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/alienArithmetic Lansing Community College just had their annual Science and Math Elementary Exploration (SMEE) event and the kids that visited Alien Arithmetic got a chance to play a newly updated game where they explored math in other base systems. For those too young to handle that concept, there is plenty to do in base ten. After the event, I made a few more updates that are now posted for everyone to use. Check it out by going to Arithmetic > Alien Arithmetic. New features to this three year old program include: 1. The position of the fingers stay where you placed them when you come back to the "Build Alien Hands" scene. 2. If you accidently pick up a finger that you didn't intend to, you can now put it back instead of being forced to put it in the trash or on a hand. 3. There are a few more sound instructions for those too young to read and those who like to hear as well as read instructions. 4. Next Buttons show up more often to clear up confusion as to what to do next. Stay tuned for more improvements to arrive in the near future. Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:00:00 GMT Linear Combination of Vectors precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/vectorDefn/linearCombination.php The Linear Combination of Vectors program is a spin off from the Vector Drawing Board. When you open the program, you get 2 randomly drawn vectors and a third vector which is a random integral combination of the first two vectors. The student's task is to display the vector combination where the third vector is the resultant vector. This exercise reinforces vector concepts of equivalence, negation, and addition as well as introducing the concept of linear combination. Since all of the combinations involve integers rather than decimals, it makes a great exercise for a trig class on the topic of vectors. This program is also available in a SCORM compliant version which can report grades to most SCORM compliant Learning Management Systems. Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:00:00 GMT Improved Vector Drawing Board precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/vectorDefn/drawingBoard.php You can now label your vectors on the vector drawing board. Also there is room to write up your conclusions within the drawing board. This way if you use the printer icon, you get both the image of your experiment and your written results which you can print or save to a file and send to your instructor. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:00:00 GMT Improved Math Worksheets arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/mathWorksheets/ You will find an improved version of the Math Worksheets in the Arithmetic section of this site. Now when the random problems are generated, the program checks the last problem and if the new problem is the same, it picks a new one. This will prevent students from getting the same problem several times in a row. Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:00:00 GMT SCORM SCORM http://www.lsquaredmath.us/scormQuest/ Learning how to implement SCORM has been keeping me busy all summer and fall. Click on the SCORM link to find out what it is and why it will improve my programs. You can even download a sample SCORM program to test in your Learning Management System. Read just the top part of the page to find out what SCORM is, but if you are a developer who wants to know how to implement SCORM with your own Flash files you will want to read the whole document. Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:00:00 GMT Sudoku Solving Tools recreation http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sudoku/ Do you like to play Sudoku? If so, you might like the tools I just created to help you keep track of your numbers. You can choose from printing a page that has the numbers 1-9 in each grid space to use while working a puzzle or you can use the interactive Sudoku Tool that can mark off numbers for you if you tell it which numbers are given or you know are correct. It doesn't solve the puzzles for you, but it makes a handy tool to help you keep track of the possible answers in each grid. Find the Sudoku tools in the Math Fun menu. Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:00:00 GMT Math Worksheets arithmetic http://www.lsquaredmath.us/mathWorksheets/ Now you can generate your own worksheets for your students to practice offline. You can customize them to meet the needs of your particular student. For example, if your student is working on '+5', then just set the minimum and maximum of the second adden to 5. The default setting would be to sometimes have the 5 in the top position and sometimes to have it in the bottom position, but if you always want it in the bottom position, just turn mix order off by clicking 'no'. Find this program in the Arithmetic menu. Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT Another Update to the Random Sine Graph Program http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sineEqtn/index.php I just posted another update to the Random Sine Graph program discussed below. Now I have a working mask tool. This is a great tool for discussing periods in a classroom. Thank you's go to Lansing Community College's Kay Barks for helping to develop the idea for the mask tool. I find that once students learn how to calculate the period from an equation, they often get confused when asked to tell the period from a graph. Now they can mark the length of the period with the mask tool and then you can ask them what that length is. Let me know what you think. Should I add the length of the mask to a label on the slider or just leave that up to the students to figure out? Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:00:00 GMT Random Sine Graph Program graphing trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/sineEqtn/index.php The Random Sine Graph Program now includes tools to mark the phase shift and vertical shift thus making it easier to count the squares. The format for the equation has changed from: y = Asin[B(x - C)] + D to y = Asin(Bx + C) + D. Students are also asked to name the phase shift, amplitude, period, and vertical shift before being given a chance to enter the equation. Students can now enter any phase shift that works with the coefficient A being positive. In the past, students had to use the phase shift that was closest to the y-axis. The scales are marked on the axis, but also still show up at the top in case the graph makes them hard to read. All fractions are now displayed the same way that you would want a student to write them, i.e. 'π/4' instead of '1π/4' and '5π' instead of '5π/1', etc.. Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:00:00 GMT Addition of Ordinates Program graphing trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/additionOfOrdinates/index.php The Addition of Ordinates program can be used for trig students, but it would also be appropriate for College Algebra students as part of a discussion on graphing and algebra of functions. Students can add and subtract two random functions graphically. Find it in the Graphing menu. Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:00:00 GMT Factor Number's Program arithmetic tools http://www.lsquaredmath.us/factors/ The Factor Numbers program is one that I created while working on the origianl Random Sine Graph project in which I needed some factoring functions. It took some thought on how to come up with the list of all factors after finding the prime factorization of a number. My solution is similar to the type of thinking that is used when converting bases only in this case each place value has a varying base system. Let me know if you want to know more and I would be happy to write up an abstact of the method I used which could easily be applied to any programming language. The mathematics behind the method is interesting, but not out of reach for any good high school or maybe even middle school student. Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:00:00 GMT Common Radian Units trigonometry precalculus http://www.lsquaredmath.us/radians/index.php The Common Radian Units program has had numerous improvements made to it recently. Now your students can e-mail you their results right from the program! This program is also known as the Key Radian Values program. Find it in the Unit Circle menu. Sun, 18 Sep 2005 12:00:00 GMT One Point Perspective art demos http://www.lsquaredmath.us/perspective/onePt.php The one point perspective program can be used in an art class to demonstrate how to draw a simple box. Sun, 04 Sep 2005 12:00:00 GMT Two Point Perspective art demos http://www.lsquaredmath.us/perspective/twoPt.php The one point perspective program can be used in an art class to demonstrate how to draw a simple box. Sat, 13 Aug 2005 12:00:00 GMT Color Cube tools recreation http://www.lsquaredmath.us/colorCube/ Click on any square in the flat plane to see a color's RGB color code and the code of its opposite color. When you add a color and its opposite together, you get white, which has a code of #FFFFFF. Sun, 22 Jul 2001 12:00:00 GMT Java Colors tools http://www.lsquaredmath.us/colors/ If you want to play with some colors to put into your html document you can do that here and get the color code you need for the document. Also, for many documents you can click on customize colors and find out the numeric codes for red, blue, and green in an image that is in edit mode. You can plug those codes in here to get the html equivalent code. This is very handy when you are trying to match colors in an image with a border in an html document. This was the first java applet that I ever made myself. I have learned other programming languages since then and done most of my work in other languages. I'm not sure whether or not I am going to come back to programming in Java.